Upgrading Faspex

Important: If you are running IBM Aspera Enterprise Server for Isilon OneFS, do not upgrade to IBM Aspera Faspex v3.0+! You should not upgrade until Enterprise Server 3.0+ is released for the Isilon OneFS Maverick platform (64-bit).
Warning: Due to incompatible common components, IBM Aspera Console and Faspex Server 2.X+ cannot be installed on the same machine. Aspera does not support this combination. If you are running an older version of Faspex Server (pre-2.X) and Console on the same machine, please contact Aspera Technical Support to move one of the applications to another system.
  1. If you have not done so already, please review the Faspex Upgrade Checklist. You must meet the listed prerequisites before attempting to upgrade.
  2. Back up your Faspex database by following the steps in Backing Up Configurations and Databases.
  3. Upgrade Windows Installer to version 4 or higher.
    The Faspex installer requires Windows Installer version 4+ for successful configuration. You may download the latest version of Windows Installer from the Microsoft website.
  4. Download the requisite Aspera installers.

    Download the IBM Aspera Enterprise Server, and IBM Aspera Faspex installers from the following locations:

    You will be required to input your organization's Aspera login credentials to gain access. If you need help determining your organization's access credentials, please contact Technical Support.

  5. Manually backup your SSL certificate files.
    Locate and copy the server.crt and server.key files to a different location. The files can be found in the following locations:
    OS Version File
    32-bit Windows
    • C:\Program Files\Common Files\Aspera\Common\apache\conf\server.crt
    • C:\Program Files\Common Files\Aspera\Common\apache\conf\server.key
    64-bit Windows
    • C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Aspera\Common\apache\conf\server.crt
    • C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Aspera\Common\apache\conf\server.key
  6. Run the latest Enterprise Server installer.
    First refer to the "Before Upgrading" section in the IBM Aspera Enterprise Server Administrator's Guide.

    Then run the installer and follow the on-screen instructions to upgrade Enterprise Server or Connect Server to the latest version.

    Note: If you would like to configure a remote transfer server with Faspex 3.5+ , you must enable persistent storage (see Persistent Storage) in the aspera.conf file for Enterprise Server. For more information on setting up a remote transfer server, refer to Working With Remote Servers.
  7. Stop all services.

    Before upgrading, stop all services related to Faspex, including Faspex, MySQL, and Apache. Use the following command:

    > asctl all:stop
  8. Launch the Faspex installer.

    Double-click the Faspex installer to begin the installation process.

    Note: If your Windows Operating System has User Account Control (UAC) enabled, confirm or enter the administrator's password to allow the installer to make changes to your computer.
  9. Launch asctl to continue Aspera Faspex setup process.

    Once the "IBM Aspera Faspex Setup Wizard" completes, you will receive a prompt with a checkbox and a Finish button.

    By default, the Launch asctl to continue the Faspex setup checkbox is turned on. Once you click Finish, the installer will automatically run the setup command. If you do not want to run the setup command automatically, then uncheck (turn off) the Launch asctl to continue the Faspex setup checkbox.

    Follow the onscreen configuration instructions to complete the setup. These instructions include identifying whether you want to perform a streamlined (s) setup or a detailed (d) setup. Select detailed (d) to view and edit advanced configuration options.

    If Faspex doesn't automatically run the upgrade command or an error halts the process, then you can run the command manually, as shown below.

    > asctl faspex:upgrade
    Important: During an upgrade on Windows 2008 32-bit, Apache may report an error when attempting to restart (“Apache HTTPD Server (Aspera): The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect. Please see the application event log for more detail.”). To remedy, install the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package (x86) package.
  10. Back up your new Faspex database by following the steps in Backing Up Configurations and Databases.
  11. Reset your custom SSH port setting (if necessary)
    Upgrading Faspex from a release prior to Faspex 3.0 does not preserve SSH port settings which were being used in the prior 2.x release. Instead, the installer assumes your server will now use port 33001 for SSH. If you want to preserve the port you were using previously, you can add the following line to the <server> section of your aspera.conf after the Faspex upgrade:
      <ssh_port>port_number</ssh_port>  

    The aspera.conf file can be found in the following location:

    OS Version File Location
    32-bit Windows C:\Program Files\Aspera\Enterprise Server\etc\aspera.conf
    64-bit Windows C:\Program Files (x86)\Aspera\Enterprise Server\etc\aspera.conf

    After modifying aspera.conf, restart Aspera NodeD and Faspex services. (See Appendix: Restarting Faspex and Services

  12. Restore SSL certificate files.
    Locate your existing SSL certificates and replace them with the ones that acquired from the certificate authority. Again, your certificates are located at the following paths:
    OS Version File
    32-bit Windows
    • C:\Program Files\Common Files\Aspera\Common\apache\conf\server.crt
    • C:\Program Files\Common Files\Aspera\Common\apache\conf\server.key
    64-bit Windows
    • C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Aspera\Common\apache\conf\server.crt
    • C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Aspera\Common\apache\conf\server.key
    Restart Apache with the following command:
    > asctl:generate_config
  13. Restart the Aspera Node Server.

    In order to use Aspera Faspex, the Aspera Node Server must be running. If you did not choose to restart the Aspera Node Server when prompted during the setup process, or if it has been stopped, you must restart it before using Faspex.

    To check whether the Aspera Node Server is running or to restart it, open the Services window from Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services.

Your Faspex upgrade is now complete. If you have not updated your license, please follow the steps in Updating Your License.